1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic equipment such as a notebook-type personal computer or word processor which is configured to have a display part rotationally supported by a body and relates to a radiation structure for radiating heat from a heating element such as a CPU placed in the body to the outside of the equipment as well as to electronic equipment or a computer apparatus which has such a radiation structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, as electronic equipment such as a notebook-type personal computer (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cnotebook computerxe2x80x9d) becomes more advanced and faster, various electronic elements represented by a central processing unit (CPU), which may produce heat, tend to produce more and more heat. In particular, since more power consumption of an electronic element for faster operations facilitates a rise in temperature of the electronic element, some protection may be required against such a temperature rise.
Insufficient protection against radiation from such electronic equipment may cause the electronic element to have an increased error rate due to such a temperature rise or to be made unstable because of increased actuations of a protective circuit and thus, the service life of the equipment may be reduced due to a thermally degraded electronic element. In order to avoid these problems, various types of electronic equipment employ some radiation structure as a heat protection.
FIG. 5 shows a heatpipe hinge radiation mechanism as an example for a conventional radiation structure used for a notebook computer. The notebook computer includes a body 10 and a display part 12 and the display part 12 is rotationally connected to the body 10 through a hinge (not shown) to allow the display part 12 to function as a cover for the body 10 as well. It should be noted that a CPU (not shown) and other components are contained in the body 10. It should also be noted that the display part 12 has a liquid crystal display part (LCD) 13 and some other components built therein.
The conventional heatpipe hinge radiation mechanism 14 shown in FIG. 5 transfers heat produced in the body 10 to the display part 12 to suppress any temperature rise within the body 10 and on its outer surface of the body 10. The heatpipe hinge radiation mechanism 14 includes a heat sink 16 provided within the body 10. The heat sink 16 takes the form of thick plate and is supported above a CPU (not shown) mounted on a printed circuit board. The heat sink 16 is in contact with the CPU directly or indirectly through a cushioning material with a high thermal conductivity such as silicone rubber to absorb any heat from the CPU or other electronic components.
One end of the heatpipe 18 is connected to the end of the heat sink 16. The heatpipe hinge radiation mechanism 14 includes a heatpipe hinge 20 for connecting the body 10 and the display part 12. The heatpipe hinge 20 connects the body 10 to the display part 12 rotationally with respect thereto. However, the body 10 is also connected to the display part 12 by a hinge (not shown) rotationally with respect thereto and any load of the body 10 and the display part 12 is supported by the hinge mechanism to prevent it from directly acting on the heatpipe hinge 20.
The heatpipe hinge 20 includes a fixed plate 22 fixed to a chassis (not shown) within the body 10 and the other end of the heatpipe 18 is connected to the fixed plate 22. The fixed plate 22 includes a rotationally annular bearing 24 integrally provided along the upper longitudinal edge and one end of another heatpipe 26 is rotationally inserted into the bearing 24. Therefore, the fixed plate 22 is connected to the heatpipe 26 rotationally with respect thereto around the axis S of the bearing 24.
A portion of the heatpipe 26 which projects from the bearing 24 passes through a cylindrical sleeve 27 and then it is inserted into the display part 12. It should be noted that the fixed plate 22 and the sleeve 27 are made of a metal material with a high thermal conductivity, respectively. This allows the heatpipe 22 to receive any heat directly from the fixed plate 22 and indirectly from the fixed plate 22 through the sleeve 27.
On the contrary, a thin-plate radiation plate 28 is arranged on the back of the LCD 13 in the display part 12. The radiation plate 28 is also made of a metal material with a high thermal conductivity and the other end of the heatpipe 26 is connected thereto.
In the heatpipe hinge radiation mechanism 14 as configured above, any heat produced by the CPU and other components during the operation of the notebook computer is absorbed by the heat sink 16 and the heat stored in the heat sink 16 is transformed to the radiation plate 28 through the heatpipe 18, the heatpipe hinge 20, and the heatpipe 26. This allows the heat produced in the body 10 to be efficiently transferred to the radiation plate 28 of the display part 12 for heat emission from the radiation plate 28 to the outside of the apparatus and thus, any excessive rise in temperature can be avoided both within the body 10 and on the outer surface of the body 10.
Although the heatpipe hinge radiation mechanism 14 as described above consists of a plurality of parts such as heat sink 16, the heatpipes 18 and 26, and the heatpipe hinge 20, it is supplied in the form of a single finished part to the process for assembling notebook computers. During that process, the heatpipe hinge radiation mechanism 14 is first built into a housing 15 which constitutes the outer shell of the display part 12 together with the LCD 13 and other components so as to be integral with the display part 12. The fixed plate 22 of the heatpipe hinge radiation mechanism 14 integral with the display part 12 is fixed to the chassis (not shown) in the body 10 and thus, the display part 12 is rotationally connected to the body 10.
Therefore, the heatpipe 18 and the heat sink 16 are exposed to the outside until the heatpipe hinge radiation mechanism 14 is built into the body 10 together with the display part 12. The heat sink 16 is connected to the display part 12 through the heatpipe 18 only. Thus, when any load other than the moment rotating around the axis S acts between the heat sink 16 and the display part 12, that load will act as a bending or torsional load on the heatpipes 18 and 26.
The heatpipes 18 and 26 are formed of, for example, metal or any other heat conductor such as copper, aluminum, and stainless steel and have a thinner wall to increase heat transfer (endothermic and radiative) speeds near the opposite ends. This will prove that a slight load may easily cause bending, buckling, fracture, or any other breakage, resulting in decreased heat transport capacities or incapacity for heat transport. The display part 12 is handled very carefully during the notebook computer assembly process in order to avoid such breakage of the heatpipe hinge radiation mechanism 14, but the heatpipes 18 and 26 may be damaged by getting the heat sink 16 snagged on something or imposing an inappropriate load on the heatpipes 18 and 26 during the transportation of the display part 12 or its assembly into the body 10. In addition, when the display part 12 is removed from the body 10 for repair of the notebook computer, the heatpipes 18 and 26 of the display part 12 removed from the body 10 may be easily damaged.
The display part 12 is usually held on a tray or pallet or in a storage container corresponding to its shape until it is incorporated with the body 10. However, the storage container may be complicated if it is intended to prevent an inappropriate load from being imposed on the heatpipes 18 and 26, resulting in a large space required to hold the display part 12 together with the storage container and difficulty in efficiently transporting the display part 12 together with the storage container.
An embodiment of the present invention is a radiation structure applicable to electronic equipment such as a notebook-type personal computer, word processor, or PDA (Personal Data Assistant) with a body and a display part, which comprises a first heatpipe for transferring heat from a heating element contained in the body; a hinge member connected to the first heatpipe for receiving heat from the first heatpipe; a second heatpipe for transferring heat from the hinge member to a radiation member placed in the display part, one end of the second heatpipe arranged substantially coaxially with respect to the center of rotation of the display part being connected to the hinge member rotationally with respect thereto; and a sleeve member arranged in the hinge member coaxially with respect to the center of rotation of the display part, the sleeve member being inserted from the outside into the inside of the display part together with a portion of the second heatpipe which projects from the hinge member.
According to the radiation structure as configured above, when the hinge member is built into the display part together with the second heatpipe, the second heatpipe will not be exposed to the outside between the hinge member and the display part. Therefore, the second heatpipe can be protected from any breakage which may be caused by something hitting against the second heatpipe before the display part is incorporated with the body together with the first heatpipe and the hinge member.
In the radiation structure as configured above, since the sleeve member can be supported by the display part rotationally around the center of rotation of the display part, any external load acting on the hinge member and the display part will not affect directly the second heatpipe because the load is supported by the sleeve member. Therefore, it the sleeve member has a sufficiently high rigidity, the second heatpipe can be prevented from being broken even when any external load is imposed on the hinge member and the display part.
In the radiation structure as configured above, since the hinge member can be divided into a first hinge to which the first heatpipe is connected and a second hinge to which the second heatpipe is connected rotationally with respect thereto and which has the sleeve member provided therewith and is connected to the first hinge, no external load will affect directly the first heatpipe if the second heatpipe is built into the display part and the first hinge is built into the body so that the first heatpipe is supported by the body and the first hinge before the display is incorporated with the body. Therefore, the first heatpipe can be prevented from being broken under any external load when the display part is incorporated with the body.
The radiation structure as configured above can also transfer heat from the heat element in the body to the display part through heat conduction even if a first heat conductor and a second heat conductor both of which are made of a material with a sufficiently high heat conductivity are substituted for the first heatpipe and the second heatpipe, respectively. In this case, the first and second heat conductors can be made of various materials including, for example, metal materials such as copper and aluminum and nonmetallic materials which have a sufficiently high heat conductivity.